Are Influencers Worthy?
Ever since social media appeared in our lives, certain people started to shine with a different light. In no time, they earned millions of followers and views with each content they shared. We call them INFLUENCERS.
But What IS an Influencer?
First, we should make certain distinctions, because usually, people get some terms mixed up. Terms that are related but are not the same.
Content generator
Content generators are, pretty much, everyone. If you share pictures, videos, music, if you tweet, you are generating content.
In a metaphorical staircase, they are the first step.
Micro-influencer
When a content generator starts becoming famous and gets a moderate amount of followers (this depends on the platform, but it’s usually around 5.000 followers), they climb to the second step of the staircase. They turn into micro-influencers.
Usually, a micro-influencer works for a niche of followers with a particular taste in content.
Influencer
When for example an Instagrammer acquires a bigger followers base (there’s no limit for this), they become influencers.
Unlike micro-influencers, they usually share content on different platforms sharing special things in each one.
Continuing with the staircase metaphor, they are in the final step.
Celebrities
Before starting we need to clarify something. A celebrity isn’t necessarily an influencer.
Any famous actor, tv or radio personality, or even musician, usually has thousands or millions of followers, mostly just because they are them.
Many times they even have followers without having to generate quality content. That’s why we are not putting them in the same category as traditional influencers.
If we keep talking about the staircase metaphor, celebrities would be elevators.
*Sometimes an influencer can become a celebrity, but we are not discussing them in this category. Mainly because they were influencers and content creators first.*
CGI Influencer
A very particular character is the CGI influencer. These are computer-generated people that brands use to advertise their products. Imagine an influencer that will never get involved in controversies, or scandals, one that will always do what our brand needs them to do. Those are some of the benefits of working with them.
Some examples of them are @lilmiquela or the advertising campaign KFC worked on with their new Colonel.
So, if you want to hire an influencer for an ad campaign, which one should you choose?
Tips for Hiring an Influencer for Your Ad Campaign
(If you like our tips, here you have another article you may like)
There are many influencers we pick to work with, it all depends on the objectives of our campaign.
That’s why, before reaching out to them, it’s crucial to consider these aspects.
Number of followers
Not every influencer has the same amount of followers.
Keep in mind that having fewer followers isn’t necessarily something bad, as we’ll see in the next item. Also when the influencer has a smaller follower base, they usually charge less for their content.
Niche
As we said, having fewer followers isn’t necessarily something bad.
Many micro-influencers are niche, and maybe their followers are the kind of consumers our brand targets. So, as the old saying goes, sometimes less is more.
Influencer’s voice
It’s really important to know how the influencer speaks and communicates because we are giving them our brands. They will produce their content the way they usually do, and our products will get related to them.
The influencer will turn into an ambassador for our brand. So this is something really important we should never forget.
Freedom
This isn’t just the warcry of William Wallace, it’s one of the key things we should always keep in mind when working with an influencer.
They must be able to work freely, to come up with something that will look organic to their channels while advertising our products.
If this doesn’t happen, their followers may dislike the content and it won’t perform as well as it could.
Never forget that the reason why we are working with influencers is to reach their followers to sell them our products. If the content looks more like an advertisement, and less like what the influencer generates regularly, it may not work.
After all these tips and definitions, let’s go back to the original question:
Are Influencers Worthy?
Well, to say the truth, when you choose the right one, and they deliver some quality content, it works.
It’s like having an ad watched by thousands of people that are willing to watch our commercial, and are willing to share it and leave comments on it. This creates a snowball effect because their followers then watch it and so on. Millions of people end up watching our products.
But, after reading this article, what do you think about influencers?
